NDSU at Northern State University – October 1, 2006

NDSU finished off their long road trip in Aberdeen, SD taking on the Northern State Wolves. Although the Bison were missing defender Ardy Mahinfalah (red card) and forward Taylor Zimmerman (injury) from the previous game on top of an already slim roster, they were lifted by the addition of keeper Tom Erickson and forward Selam Ahmed. The Bison started this game much better than their first of the road trip and were rewarded in the 13th minute. Ricky Urbina sent a cross to Justin Sipma, who was making his first career start in just his second collegiate game. Sipma sent a spectacular shot to the lower right corner to start the scoring for NDSU. The team continued to fight hard and was quickly rewarded when Brad Bateman sent a corner kick that deflected off the NSU goalkeeper’s hand and onto the ground, where Ahmed was right there to put it away. However, the two goal lead didn’t last long. Right before halftime, a Wolves player took a shot that Erickson made a great save on. Unfortunately, he left a rebound out about 25 yards away that was sent back in over his head to make the halftime score 2-1 in favor of the Bison.

The second half began with great defensive intensity from NDSU. Even with this elevated play, a couple of unlucky bounces allowed NSU to tie the game with a well-placed shot early in the second half. However, this would be the last time that the Wolves would threaten the NDSU goal. After the Bison struggled to put together some offensive threats, they decided to switch the lineup again. Bateman, who had been playing defense the majority of the game due to the depleted roster, decided to move up and play forward. This strategy worked; about two minutes after the switch, Ahmed made an excellent through pass to Bateman who turned and took the ball at midfield. Bateman brought the ball all the way down behind the Northern State defense and placed a nice shot into the side netting. Bateman struck again about 5 minutes later after getting taken down in the box. He buried the penalty kick to give the Bison a 4-2 lead. NDSU continued their dominance for the remainder of the game and came away the victor with a 4-2 win. The win gives the Bison a 7-1-1 record on the season (6-1-1 in the GPSC) while Northern State still searches for their first win at 0-7.